Introducing the Editor, Craig Glenday...
Meet the man who is the Editor in Chief of the biggest selling copyright book
in history! With more than 100 million books sold around the world in more than 25 languages,
it can’t be easy for this record breaking editor!
Craig’s first memory of Guinness World Records was being fascinated and terrified in equal
measure by the experience of American park ranger Roy C. Sullivan. It was Christmas Day, and
a ten-year-old Craig read, slack-jawed, about the man who survived a record seven lightning
strikes (only to then take his own life, spurned in love).
From that moment on, Craig became obsessed with life’s extremes, although as a young boy he
never considered the possibility that one day he might become the editor of the very book that
first fired his interest.
Born in 1973 in Dundee, Scotland, Craig has come a long way to get to where he is now. He has
been a church organist, a theatre-pit drummer, a food critic and even a medical photographer.
But throughout it all, books have always been his passion. "I’d spend hours leafing through
encyclopaedias and almanacs straining to commit snippets of information to memory", he recalls.
To this day, he continues to look for fascinating facts... this time to fill the world’s best-selling
copyright book.
Whether it’s choosing the cover design, researching new records, meeting childhood heroes or
adjudicating the fastest turkey plucker, Craig works tirelessly to bring Guinness World Records
to life, as his diary attests. "In the last week alone, I've overseen the printing of the 2008
book cover in Barcelona, adjudicated the Largest Soup in Mexico and made a certificate presentation
to Christopher Lee for Most screen credits for a living Actor. All this while trying to
edit the book..."
For Craig, Guinness World Records is about setting yourself goals and working
your hardest to achieve them. "People tell us that getting in the book is a dream they’ve had
since childhood. It’s a fundamental thing about the human condition; people want to push
themselves further. It’s why people cross seas and climb mountains, it’s why we travel into
Space and create cures for diseases. It also allows you to position yourself in the world. Without
knowing the extremities, it is impossible to know where you stand."
Craig also happens to be a member of the International Banana Club Museum, which is run by
the holder of the Largest Banana collection. He’s also an honorary member of the Curing Old
Age Disease Society, and a former Curly Wurly-stretching champion.
Craig says that the 2008 edition of Guinness World Records is the best yet. "We’ve added
exciting new categories, such as Forensic Science and Games & Puzzles, and
beefed up the most popular sections such as Animals, Unusual Human Achievements and Extreme Bodies.
All in all, Guinness World Records 2008 is set to be the best book ever!"
...Better get working on that 2009 edition then!